JP7001532B2 - Animal breeding rack - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an animal breeding rack in which a cage for breeding animals is housed.

As the animal breeding rack, a negative pressure unidirectional type and an air supply / exhaust type are known (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2). All of these are like shelves that house domestic animals in plastic containers called cages and hold multiple cages. In the negative pressure unidirectional type animal breeding rack shown in Patent Document 1, the air inside the cage is directly sucked from the exhaust port provided on the rear surface of the shelf to make the inside of the cage housed in the shelf negative pressure, and the front surface of the cage. The airflow at the opening of the is maintained in a negative pressure unidirectional flow. In the supply / exhaust type animal breeding rack shown in Patent Document 2, a part of the air supplied from the front of the shelf is blown into the cage, and the blown air is pushed out from the back to ventilate the inside of the cage and the inside of the cage. By maintaining a slight positive pressure, it prevents the air around the cage from flowing into the cage. The air extruded from the cage is sucked by an exhaust fan provided in the center from an exhaust port provided in the exhaust chamber on the rear surface of the rack and exhausted to the atmosphere. In both types, experimental animals are bred by supplying air-conditioned or purified indoor air into the cage without leaking odors or allergenic substances from the animals in the cage into the room in front of the shelf.

Especially in the air supply / exhaust type animal breeding rack, by reducing the gap in the height direction between the upper part of the cage and the upper shelf board with the air outlet, the indoor air is blown out like an air curtain on the front side of the shelf and the indoor air is blown out into the cage. The speed of the airflow to prevent invasion can be set weakly (about 5 cm / sec), and the inside of the cage can be maintained at a positive pressure at this weak wind speed, and the defense function can be fully functioned. .. As a result, the living environment of domestic animals is comfortable and energy saving is realized.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2005-95504 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 7-203794

However, since all animal breeding racks form an air flow by an electric blower, the flow of this air flow stops in the event of a power failure. At this time, since sufficient ventilation cannot be provided inside the cage, the temperature inside the cage rises due to the body temperature of the breeding animal, and the ammonia concentration rises sharply due to the excrement of the breeding animal. It becomes. Therefore, there is a risk that the domestic animals in the cage will die before the power is restored.

On the other hand, a water bottle is attached to the cage from above. Specifically, it is attached so that the water supply nozzle provided in the water supply bottle is on the lower side and the bottom of the bottle is on the upper side. Domestic animals ingest make-up water from a downward-facing water nozzle. When this water bottle is large (400 cc to 500 cc), the bottom of the bottle greatly protrudes above the cage. In the case of an air supply / exhaust type animal breeding rack, since there is often only a space with a height of about 1 cm above the cage, such a large water bottle cannot be attached.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned prior art, and provides an animal breeding rack capable of providing a certain degree of ventilation in a cage even in the event of a power failure and further accommodating a cage equipped with a large water bottle. The purpose is to do.

In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, a cage in which domestic animals are housed, a shelf space in which the cages are arranged side by side in the left-right direction, and a shelf body in which a plurality of the shelf spaces are arranged in the vertical direction are used. A front opening located on the front side of the shelf body and opened for the cage to be taken in and out, and an opening located on the rear side of the shelf body for sucking and exhausting air in the shelf space. An exhaust port, a shelf board that partitions the shelf space adjacent to each other in the vertical direction and is arranged in parallel in the vertical direction with a gap, and a cage that is the left and right edges of the cage from the shelf board. A guide for partitioning the upper space above the cage extending from the left edge and the right edge of the cage at least over the entire length of the cage and adjacent to each other in the left-right direction, and located on the front opening side of the cage. A front side surface extending upward from the front edge of the cage and defined as a surface, an upper ventilation part and a lower ventilation part for allowing air to flow in the front-rear direction on the upper side and the lower side of the front side surface, respectively, and the front side surface. Provided is an animal breeding rack provided with a partition portion arranged along the above and covering the front side surface other than the upper ventilation portion and the lower ventilation portion.

Preferably, the partition portion rotates in the front-rear direction.

Preferably, the partition is made of a flexible material.

Preferably, the partition portion is composed of a hanging wall member extending downward from the shelf board and a plate-shaped rotating plate arranged at a distance from the hanging wall member, and is formed on the rotating plate. On the upper side thereof, a rotation shaft penetrating the rotating plate is arranged in the left-right direction together with the guide, and the upper ventilation portion is formed as an opening between the hanging wall member and the rotating plate, and the lower portion is formed. The side ventilation portion is formed as an opening between the rotating plate and the leading edge of the cage.

According to the present invention, when the temperature inside the cage rises due to the body temperature of the domestic animal during a power failure and an updraft is generated, this airflow flows along the lower surface of the shelf plate and leaks from the upper ventilation portion to the outside of the shelf body. At the same time, since the temperature outside the shelf body is lower than the temperature inside the cage, an air flow is generated in which the air outside the shelf body flows into the shelf body from the lower ventilation portion. This phenomenon is well known as ventilation due to the airflow reversal phenomenon in the opening of a space having a temperature higher than the ambient temperature. In this way, the space inside the cage during a power outage can be supplied and exhausted by natural convection caused by the temperature rise due to the body temperature of the domestic animal. That is, it is possible to realize so-called natural ventilation, in which sufficient ventilation is provided in the cage by the action of nature. And this natural ventilation is performed immediately after a power failure without any special work. That is, the person who manages the animal breeding rack or the keeper does not need to perform any special work to protect the breeding animal in the event of a power failure, so that the safety is improved.

Since such an upper ventilation part and a lower ventilation part are formed in the partition portion, especially in the supply / exhaust type animal breeding rack, this partition portion also acts as a rectifying plate at the time of air supply, so that it is natural. The above effect can be realized without preparing a special member for forming ventilation.

Further, by rotating the partition portion or forming it from a flexible material, it is possible to move a large protrusion from the upper surface of the cage with respect to the shelf body through the partition portion in the front-rear direction. Even if a large water bottle is attached to the cage and the bottom of the water bottle protrudes greatly toward the top of the cage, the bottom of the water bottle hits the partition and the partition passes through it by rotating or bending. It is housed in the shelf body without any problem.

It is a schematic front view of the animal breeding rack which concerns on this invention. It is the schematic sectional drawing of the cage part of the animal breeding rack which concerns on this invention. It is the schematic sectional drawing of the cage part in the normal operation of the animal breeding rack which concerns on this invention. It is the schematic sectional drawing of the cage part at the time of power failure of the animal breeding rack which concerns on this invention. It is a schematic front view of the cage part of another animal breeding rack which concerns on this invention.

Hereinafter, the supply / exhaust type animal breeding rack 1 will be described as an example, but the present invention can also be applied to a negative pressure unidirectional type animal breeding rack. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the animal breeding rack 1 according to the present invention has a shelf body 2 having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape and an open front surface. The opening on the front side of the shelf body 2 is formed as the front opening 3. A plurality of shelf spaces 4 are formed in the shelf body 2 in the vertical direction, and each of these shelf spaces 4 is partitioned by a shelf board 5. That is, the shelf boards 5 partition the shelf spaces 4 adjacent to each other in the vertical direction and are arranged in parallel in the vertical direction with an interval. In the shelf space 4, cages 6 for accommodating domestic animals 7 such as mice are arranged side by side in the left-right direction. The size of the cage 6 is appropriately changed according to the type of the domestic animal 7 (for example, a rat or the like). When the cage 6 is taken in and out of the shelf space 4, it is performed from the above-mentioned front opening 3 located on the front side of the shelf body 2. The upper side of the cage 6 is covered with a wire mesh-like cover 16. The cover 16 has a portion that protrudes inside the cage 6 in a state of being attached to the cage 6, and a food (not shown) for the domestic animal 7 and a water supply bottle 17 are arranged therein.

The entire rear side of the shelf body 2 is closed by a housing-shaped exhaust chamber 8. The exhaust chamber 8 is provided with an exhaust port 9 opened so as to communicate with each shelf space 4. That is, the exhaust port 9 is located on the rear side of the shelf body 2 and is for sucking the air in the shelf space 4 and exhausting it to the exhaust chamber 8. Preferably, the exhaust ports 9 are provided behind the cage 6 by the number corresponding to the cage 6. Preferably, the inlet side of the exhaust port 9 is covered with the hair removal filter 10. The hair removal filter 10 prevents the hair of the domestic animal 7 from flowing into the exhaust chamber 8. On the other hand, the air supplied to the shelf space 4 passes through the inside of the shelf board 5 and is supplied as air flowing downward in an air curtain shape from the front side of the shelf board 5. Therefore, an open air supply port 30 is formed on the lower front side of the shelf plate 5, and the air supply port 30 is provided with a rectifying filter 31 for rectification. The rectifying filter 31 is opened by operating the take-out knob 32 provided on the front surface of the shelf board 5, and is arranged so that it can be taken in and out from the front of the shelf board 5.

The animal breeding rack 1 is equipped with a caster 11. Therefore, the animal breeding rack 1 can be appropriately moved according to a change in the layout of the room or the like. Further, in the lower part of the animal breeding rack 1, in addition to the caster 11, a fixed leg 12 serving as a leg is also provided. The fixed leg 12 has an adjuster mechanism that can be extended in the vertical direction. When fixing the position of the animal breeding rack 1, the fixed legs 12 may be longer than the casters 11 in the downward direction.

From the shelf board 5, a plurality of guides 13 are arranged downward at intervals in the left-right direction. Since the lower end of the guide 13 protrudes in the left-right direction, its cross section has an inverted T shape. The guide 13 is formed over substantially the entire length of the shelf space 4 in the front-rear direction. On the other hand, the cage 6 is a container with an open upper side, and the outer edge of the upper side slightly protrudes outward. The left and right edge portions 14, which are the left and right edges of the cage 6, are placed on a portion protruding from the lower end of the guide 13. Therefore, the guide 13 is formed toward the left and right edges 14 of the cage 6 over at least the entire length of the cage 6. In this way, the cage 6 is held by being hooked on the left and right edge portions 14 by the guide 13, so that the cage 6 is accommodated in a suspended state. Therefore, the bottom of the cage 6 may or may not be in contact with the lower shelf plate 5 (the figure shows the state of being in contact). When the cage 6 is in contact with the lower shelf plate 5, a stopper 23 protruding above the shelf plate 5 may be provided to prevent the cage 6 from jumping out to the outside during an earthquake. Preferably, the cage stopper 23 is provided at a position where the cage stopper 23 comes into contact with the front edge portion 18 of the cage on the upper surface of the portion of the lower end of the guide 13 that protrudes in the left-right direction.

When the left and right edge portions 14 are placed on the guide 13, the upper space 15 formed above the cage 6 is open only in the front-rear direction (the left and right sides of the upper space 15 are closed by the guide 13). It is). That is, in the shelf space 4, the upper space 15 of the adjacent cages 6 is partitioned by the guide 13, the front side is opened by the front opening 3, and the rear side is formed so as to lead to the exhaust port 9.

The leading edge portion 18, which is the front edge located on the front opening 3 side of the cage 6, also protrudes in the same manner as the left and right edge portions 14. A front side surface 19 extending upward from the leading edge portion 18 as a surface is defined. In the supply / exhaust type animal breeding rack 1, the front side surface 19 serves as a reference surface for whether the supplied air flows into the cage 6 or is discharged to the outside of the shelf body 2. A partition portion 20 is arranged along the front side surface 19. On the front side surface 19, an upper ventilation portion 21 and a lower ventilation portion 22 for circulating air in the front-rear direction are formed on the upper side and the lower side thereof, respectively.

In the example of the figure, the partition portion 20 has a hanging wall member 24 extending downward from the upper shelf plate 5 along the front side surface 19, and a plate-shaped rotation further arranged on the lower side of the hanging wall member 24. It is formed by a wall 25. The rotating wall 25 is arranged at a distance from the hanging wall member 25. On the upper side of the rotating wall 25, a rotating shaft 26 formed so as to penetrate the rotating wall in the left-right direction of the rotating wall 25 is arranged. The rotating shaft 26 is inserted, for example, over the entire length of the shelf body 2 in the left-right direction, and the rotating walls 25 are arranged on the front side of the upper space 15 by the number corresponding to each upper space 15. Therefore, the rotating shaft 26 is penetrated so as to be bridged over the adjacent guides 13. In this case, the upper ventilation portion 21 is formed as an opening between the hanging wall member 24 and the rotating wall 26, and the lower ventilation portion 22 is formed as an opening between the rotating wall 26 and the leading edge portion 18 of the cage 6. It is formed. In other words, it can be said that the partition portion 20 covers the front side surface 19 other than the upper ventilation portion 21 and the lower ventilation portion 22.

On the rear side of the upper space 15, a flap 27 extending downward from the upper shelf plate 5 is formed. An exhaust hole 28 penetrating in the front-rear direction is formed in the flap 27, from which the air in the upper space 15 is exhausted toward the exhaust port 9. Some air is also allowed to escape from the underside of the flap 27 to the rear. A locking portion 29 that jumps upward is provided at the rear end of the portion protruding from the lower end of the guide 13, thereby defining the rearmost position of the cage 6. Since the flap 27 is made of a flexible material or is rotatably formed with the upper side as a support shaft, the flap 27 can be avoided in the front-rear direction to enable cleaning work on the rear side of the shelf space 4. At this time, a magnet or the like may be used so as to fix the lower end of the flap 27 to the upper shelf plate 5.

In the supply / exhaust type animal breeding rack 1 shown in the examples of FIGS. 1 and 2, the flow of airflow becomes as shown in FIG. 3 during normal operation, that is, during energization. In FIG. 3, the water supply bottle 17 is omitted for convenience, and the reference numeral is omitted because it is the same as in FIG. The air supply to the shelf space 4 is supplied from the inside of one side wall of the shelf body 2 through the inside of each shelf board 5. The supply air passes through the rectifying filter 31 provided on the shelf plate 5, and is blown downward from the air supply port 30 in the shape of an air curtain. Since the air supply port 30 is formed so as to straddle the partition portion 20 (front side surface 19) in the front-rear direction, the air supply port is blown out on the front side and the rear side of the partition portion 20. The air supply blown out from the front side of the partition portion 20 descends along the partition portion 20 as it is (arrow A), a part is blown out to the front of the shelf body 2 (arrow B), and a part is of the cage 6. It flows along the outer circumference and is exhausted from the exhaust port 9 (arrow C). The air supply blown out from the rear side of the partition portion 20 descends along the partition portion 20 as it is, and flows into the cage 6 (arrow D). The air that reaches the living area of the domestic animal 7 in the cage 6 is warmed by the body temperature of the domestic animal and becomes contaminated air containing odors and allergic substances derived from the domestic animal, and is directed from the rear of the cage 6 toward the upper space 15. Ascends (arrow E). The ascending airflow hits the upper shelf plate 5, and a part flows forward (arrow F) and a part flows backward (arrow G). The airflow of arrow F merges with the airflow of arrow D and flows into the cage 6 again. Therefore, the contaminated air indicated by the air flow indicated by the arrow F does not leak to the outside of the shelf body 2. The airflow of the arrow G is pushed out from the exhaust hole 28 into the shelf space 4 (arrow H). The extruded air is sucked into the exhaust port of the exhaust chamber 8. A part of the airflow of the arrow G flows downward along the flap 27 and is pushed out from the lower side of the flap 27 into the shelf space 4 (arrow I). The extruded air is sucked into the exhaust port of the exhaust chamber 8. The airflow of arrows H and I is sucked through the hair removal filter 10 by an exhaust fan (not shown) and rises in the exhaust chamber 8 (arrow J). By forming such an air flow, all the contaminated air that has passed through the living area of the domestic animal 7 is surely sucked into the exhaust chamber 8 and released into the atmosphere. Further, since the air flow of the arrow A acts as an air curtain, it is prevented that the air in the breeding room is supplied to the breeding animal 7.

When such an animal breeding rack 1 is in a power failure, the flow of airflow becomes as shown in FIG. As in FIG. 3, the water bottle 17 is omitted in FIG. 4 for convenience, and the reference numeral is omitted because it is the same as in FIG. At the time of a power failure, neither the air supply from the air supply port 30 by the electric blower nor the exhaust gas to the exhaust chamber 8 through the exhaust port 9 is performed. Therefore, at the beginning of a power failure, the flow of airflow in the cage 6 is stopped. With the passage of time, an updraft is generated starting from the domestic animal 7 due to an increase in the ambient air temperature due to the body temperature of the domestic animal (arrow K). A part of the air flow of the arrow K hits the upper shelf plate 5 and flows forward (arrow L). The other part flows backward, leaks from the exhaust hole 28, and flows in from the underside of the flap 27 (arrow M). The warm and light air of arrow L flows forward along the upper shelf plate 5 as it is, and a part of it leaks from the front opening 3 to the outside of the shelf body 2 through the upper ventilation portion 21 (arrow O), and the other one. The portion descends along the rotating wall 25. In the form of supplementing the leaked air in the cage, colder air flows into the cage from the outside of the shelf body 2 through the lower ventilation portion 22. Ventilation due to this natural convection is a phenomenon caused by a temperature difference, that is, a density difference of air, and cold air cannot flow in from the upper ventilation portion 21 from which warm air is discharged, and lower ventilation located below the upper ventilation portion 21. It flows in from the part 22 (arrow P). Since the airflow of the arrow P has the airflow of the arrows K and L, it once descends in the cage 6, passes through the living area of the domestic animal 7 (arrow Q), is warmed by the body temperature of the domestic animal, and is as shown by the arrow K. It becomes an updraft.

Since the above-mentioned airflow can be formed, according to the present invention, the temperature inside the cage 6 rises due to the body temperature of the domestic animal 7 to generate an updraft (arrow K in FIG. 4) during a power failure, and this airflow is generated. (Arrow K in FIG. 4) flows along the lower surface of the shelf plate 5, and a part thereof is discharged from the upper ventilation portion 21 to the outside of the shelf body 2 (arrow O in FIG. 4). At the same time, since the temperature outside the shelf body 2 is lower than the temperature inside the cage, an air flow is generated in which the air outside the shelf body 2 flows into the shelf body 2 from the lower ventilation portion 22 (arrow P in FIG. 4). ). Therefore, the inside of the cage 6 can be sufficiently ventilated by the ventilation by natural convection caused by the so-called temperature difference. No special work is required to perform this natural ventilation (natural ventilation is automatically generated in the event of a power outage). For example, the manager or the breeder who manages the animal breeding rack 1 is not required to perform any special work to protect the breeding animal 7 in the event of a power failure, so that it is safe even in the event of an earthquake.

Further, in the supply / exhaust type animal breeding rack 1, the partition portion 20 in which the upper ventilation portion 21 and the lower ventilation portion 22 are formed acts as a rectifying plate for air supply during normal operation by energization, so that a power failure occurs. Occasionally, ventilation by natural convection can be achieved without the need to prepare or work on special members to form natural ventilation. The upper ventilation portion 21 and the lower ventilation portion 22 are important concepts in the present invention, and by having such a structure, the breeding environment temperature in the cage is usually maintained by ventilation using an electric blower. Even if the electric blower is stopped in the event of a power failure, the air supply / exhaust type breeding rack can protect the breeding animal 7 by natural ventilation without requiring any special measures. It is said that domestic animals have an increased risk of dying when the environmental temperature exceeds 30 ° C., but this risk can be reduced by allowing natural ventilation in the cage during a power outage.

Further, as described above, the rotating wall 25 constituting the partition portion 20 is rotatable in the front-rear direction. Therefore, the object can be moved in the front-rear direction through the partition portion 20. For example, even if a large water bottle 17 is attached to the cage 6 (cover 16) and the bottom thereof protrudes toward the upper side of the cage 6, the bottom of the water bottle 17 hits the partition 20 and passes through the partition portion 20. However, it is housed in the shelf body 2 without any problem. Therefore, the height of the upper space 15 can be set according to the size of the water supply bottle 17 to be attached, and the above-mentioned natural ventilation can be generated regardless of the value. In order to correspond to such a large water supply bottle 17, the rotating wall 25 can be realized by forming itself with a flexible material without providing a rotating mechanism.

For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the partition portion 20 may be formed of a single sheet 33 made of a flexible material without having the hanging wall member 24 or the rotating wall 25 as the partition portion 20. In this case, the upper ventilation portion 21 and the lower ventilation portion 22 are formed as through holes in the sheet 33 (partition portion 20). That is, the partition portion 20 in this case covers the front side surface 19 other than the upper ventilation portion 21 and the lower ventilation portion 22. Even with such a configuration, natural ventilation can be generated by the upper ventilation portion 21 and the lower ventilation portion 22, and the large water bottle 17 is also attached to the cage 6 and the seat 33 is bent in the front-rear direction. It will be movable. When the cage 6 is housed in the shelf body 2, the bottom of the water bottle 17 comes into contact with the sheet 33, but the sheet 33 bends following the movement of the water bottle 17, and when the water bottle 17 finishes passing, the original Return to the position of.

1: Animal breeding rack 2: Shelf body 3: Front opening 4: Shelf space 5: Shelf board, 6: Cage, 7: Breeding animal, 8: Exhaust chamber, 9: Exhaust port, 10: Hair removal filter , 11: Caster, 12: Fixed legs, 13: Guide, 14: Left and right edges, 15: Upper space, 16: Cover, 17: Water bottle, 18: Front edge, 19: Front side, 20: Partition, 21: Upper ventilation part, 22: Lower ventilation part, 23: Stopper, 24: Hanging wall member, 25: Rotating wall, 26: Rotating shaft, 27: Flap, 28: Exhaust hole, 29: Locking part, 30 : Air supply port, 31: rectifying filter, 32: take-out knob, 33: sheet

Claims (4)

Cages that house domestic animals and
The shelf space where the cages are arranged side by side in the left-right direction,
A shelf body in which a plurality of the shelf spaces are arranged in the vertical direction, and a shelf body,
A front opening located on the front side of the shelf body and opened for the cage to be taken in and out, and a front opening.
An exhaust port located on the rear side of the shelf body and open for sucking and exhausting air in the shelf space.
Shelf boards that partition the shelf spaces adjacent to each other in the vertical direction and are arranged in parallel in the vertical direction with a space between them.
To partition the upper space above the cages extending from the shelf board to the left and right edges of the cage, which are the left and right edges of the cage, at least over the entire length of the cage and adjacent to each other in the left-right direction. With a guide,
A front surface extending upward from the cage front edge located on the front opening side of the cage and defined as a surface.
An upper vent and a lower vent for circulating air in the front-rear direction on the upper and lower sides of the front surface, respectively.
An animal breeding rack provided with a partition portion arranged along the front side surface and covering the front side surface other than the upper ventilation portion and the lower ventilation portion. The animal breeding rack according to claim 1, wherein the partition portion rotates in the front-rear direction. The animal breeding rack according to claim 1, wherein the partition portion is made of a flexible material. The partition portion is composed of a hanging wall member extending downward from the shelf board and a plate-shaped rotating plate arranged at intervals from the hanging wall member.
On the rotating plate, a rotating shaft penetrating with the guide is arranged in the left-right direction on the upper side thereof.
The upper ventilation portion is formed as an opening between the hanging wall member and the rotating plate.
The animal breeding rack according to claim 2, wherein the lower ventilation portion is formed as an opening between the rotating plate and the leading edge of the cage.

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